My start-up RSAC 2017 experience!
With an air of anticipation, I set off from Heathrow to San Francisco on Saturday 11th February- pondering what the week had in store for me. Galaxkey had been invited to the RSA Conference 2017 (the world’s largest Cyber Security Conference) by the UK Government’s Department of International Trade. Eight of the UK’s fastest growing and most promising Cyber Security companies were put in the limelight of our industry and this included Galaxkey. I for one was very proud to be working with the UK government.
In hindsight though, I will be sure to avoid the Chinese new year celebrations next time. At this point, I had been awake for over 24 hours. This was all due to the parade that had shut the road- leaving only the diversion which took me an extra three and a half hours (not to mention 20kg rucksack on my back - I definitely over packed). This was a slight inconvenience especially as I could see the hotel from the other side of the road! It was good exercise though and I am always up for a bit of spontaneity.
After a night feeling the effects of jet lag, I had my first meetings on the Sunday with some fantastic chaps over from Atlanta. Following a gentle introduction to the San Francisco nightlife and some fabulous red wine, I was eager to begin my RSA journey.
The exhibition kicked off on Monday afternoon and it was an interesting start- with beers on the stand before I even had a chance to finish my first demo. It became fairly obvious that most attendees hadn’t planned on attending the Monday afternoon. This turned out to be more of a dummy run for the exhibitors. During a low footfall afternoon, I started to think about what was going to be happening that evening.
Moving on from the exhibition hall at 6pm, the party was just getting started. Digital Shadows hosted the best party of the night. However my opinion is from a biased “UK cyber success story” perspective, especially after meeting two fantastically down to earth founders, Alastair and James. Usually networking events are my home turf and I was chomping at the bit, despite the jet lag. The anticipation of working with a room full of potential opportunities, each potential contact having an exciting story to tell-was attractive. No doubt we would have discussed the difficulty their users had when trying to encrypt and share data with others. However, contrary to my willingness on discussing their latest issues (especially when it came to encryption) I had to carry out the final preparations for pitching the next morning.
Five of the top Cyber VC’s in San Francisco were part of the audience. To say I was bricking it would be fairly accurate. However, I will always remember my old school Principal’s words – “Fail to prepare, prepare to fail!”. I could even hear him saying it in my head-just like in assembly before my GCSE’s, which were a fair few years ago now! That is also the only thing I can remember him saying. After learning my lesson on that occasion, I have always tried to prepare since. I dragged myself away from the free booze and networking opportunities to spend an evening practising, tweaking and rehearsing.
Come Monday morning I was definitely in a better state of readiness. My expectation of the session was for it to be held in a somewhat cosy and focused environment with a limited audience. When I arrived at the venue for an early 7:30am start, I found that I was pitching to a room of around 50+ senior representatives. Including: government, corporate and academic backgrounds alike-with the founders and CEO’s of the VC firms sitting in the front row behind an ominous desk.
Back to bricking it.
Fortunately, a couple of months prior (last October), I had been in an even more harrowing situation with the Duke of York in the front row of around 200 people for Pitch@Palace. Only the night before I was told I’d be doing the presentation. Therefore, I was relieved that the pitch went well. This had prepared me for the unexpected. I know where I can make improvements – luckily I’m not an actor as I would definitely struggle with remembering an entire script – and the audience feedback was understanding. I must, at this stage, say a special thanks to Roy Williamson (UK DIT), Steve Bachman (Director at Galaxkey) and Andy Williams (Cyber Envoy to the US for UK DIT), for their fantastic input on how to construct a script that would be simple, powerful and clear for its intended audience. Not forgetting Stewart Bewley (Amplify) - “just imagine you are being held up by a piece of string!”. If he is reading this I have no doubt he will be smiling, with good reason.
So now that the pitching and most stressful part of my RSA was behind me, I could concentrate on what I was good at – speaking to people! Arriving on the exhibition floor, fresh faced and mega keen (after a low alcohol intake the previous evening) I was really looking forward to sharing Galaxkey with the world. I was happy and unsurprised with the responses to Galaxkey’s technology that I was beginning to receive from the attendees. My favourite - “Oh! That’s pretty darn easy!” a gentleman loudly responded with a strong Texan accent. Following this, I was anticipating a good day on the exhibition floor. While I had a great hit rate of positive reactions, I was a little bit underwhelmed by the numbers of people I had a chance to demonstrate Galaxkey to that morning. Not for the lack of trying, I raised my effort, making eye contact, positioning myself slightly into the aisle without being over bearing - and soon found I was still being blanked on a number of occasions.
This only stirred me on even more, as in my head, I obviously wasn’t trying hard enough.
Come Tuesday afternoon, I was playing a balancing game- knowing that another 2 days of intense conversation and networking remained (I’m trying so hard not to use the word partying here). Having a few Infosec’s under my belt, I knew I had to manage my body efficiently. All while being upbeat and passionate about my brand of course. Fortunately, I have no problem being passionate when selling a solution I believe in but it needs to be tapered to maintain a level head whilst ensuring I am listening to the problems that people have. I know a great solution to a known issue but if it’s not a solution to a particular problem they have, then what I have to say may go down like a lead balloon and potentially be a waste of time for all. I prefer to do solution selling, looking out for the customer’s needs first and having a detailed understanding of my product that could potentially align to it.
Come the arrival of the first night, I could actually get into the evening sessions and start to let my hair down a little. Tuesday night consisted of an event held by the State of Maryland guys. Eager to attract top cyber organisation to match the talent they are producing. The US are addressing the talent issue pretty well (special mention to the State of Georgia too) with educational institutes from around the country aligning themselves to the industry and training the next generation of cyber security professionals.
Following this event, Stuart over at Surevine invited me across to his party at Mikellar, a premier location for the beer connoisseur. The venue was focused and the level of attendees well thought out. That said, I will definitely be sure not to drink 12% beer at the speed of 5% beer. You definitely feel it towards the end of the night in a way that feels like a trick on the body – how can beer be this strong and still taste good? So much so that one of the party members, who will remain nameless due to my sympathy for them, managed to fall over a table with about $300 worth of beer on it. Bottles went flying everywhere. Quite frankly I’m surprised it wasn’t me! It was at this point that I counted my chickens and retired back to the hotel room for the evening.
Waking up on the Wednesday morning, I was shocked to realise that I was actually functional. I was missing the freshness and a bit of zing from the previous day, but when considering the evening before, that was probably understandable. Off I went to the exhibition floor, knowing day 3 was going to be the busiest of the lot. And I wasn’t wrong. Demo after demo went by, card after card collected from interested individuals. Some even thanked me for bringing them on to the stand and showing them why Galaxkey was not “just another encryption vendor”. A moniker that I understand given the amount of organisations out there rehashing (pardon the pun) each other, making it a slightly confusing space sometimes for the layman. I’ll always remember the face of one person who couldn’t quite figure out why we made Galaxkey free for personal use considering the value of the suite – that’s true capitalism for you!
Wednesday went by a lot faster and felt more productive. But it was going to pale in comparison to the evening the UK DIT had organised for us. Pulling out all the stops, BAE systems were on hand to sponsor one of the best networking sessions I had ever been to. The Department of State, FBI, Police, USAF, ex-Marines and many other acronym type organisations adorned the room, including our friends at DarkTrace, Nicole Eagan and Dave Palmer. We had a simple and effective talk held by the first CISO to the US government, Gregory Touhill (Brigadier General rtd. of the USAF). I was even fortunate enough to have a ten-minute conversation with him, which had to be one of the highlights of my week. Following the event (well done to the UK DIT team again for organising), I joined the Glasswall Solutions guys over at a bar with two pianos facing each other. There sat two local people who were harmonising each other’s melodies – to varying success – and it gave us a great excuse to belt out the classics with them. A fantastic way to end the evening.
Back to the hotel I went.
Thursday morning, was the final day of the exhibiting part of the conference. It was winding down, the footfall struggling after lunch and the day was wrapped up at 3pm. A good day, but not much more to elaborate on. Following this, again, my evening produced amazing results. After a last minute invite from Diane Canham of Éclat to a vendor event, I was to enjoy the end of the conference with my fellow peers. I even ran into my old Thales colleagues! Don’t ask me how I got home that night though, as tequila made an appearance and that generally spells trouble.
Sitting here on the flight home writing this blog entry, I must reflect and say I had a productive and worthwhile visit. It’s lucky when work co-exists with enjoyment and satisfaction, because being on the edge of technology that is designed to help protect others, I honestly believe I can make a positive contribution to other people’s digital lives.
Understanding requirements to create technical solutions
8yThanks guys for liking the post. Life and work is always about sharing experiences and learning from them.